The best traffic-free bike rides in Riserva Naturale Mont Mars

The parish church of San Rocco, consecrated in 1661 in the center of Lillianes, is an example of 17th-century Alpine religious architecture built on a previous 15th-century chapel. The three-nave building with Baroque carved wooden altars is distinguished by its imposing stone bell tower that dominates the village near the Lys stream. The structure was the heart of community life, historically linked to the chestnut economy and livestock farming, serving as the main gathering point for the valley's population. A significant historical detail is the presence, in the immediate vicinity of the entrance, of a specific stone niche called Crierel. From this elevated position, the town crier or local authorities "shouted" resolutions, decrees, and sentences to the population gathered in the churchyard, ensuring the dissemination of rules in an era of low literacy. This custom transformed the area in front of the church into an operational public forum, where civil power officially manifested itself to manage the daily life of the village.

The stone bridge of Lillianes, completed in 1733, represents a hydraulic work of exceptional value for the Lys Valley, being the only historic bridge in the region structured on four round arches. The choice of this configuration, supported by robust piers equipped with cut-water spurs, was dictated by the need to span a section of the Lys stream particularly subject to violent floods. The roadway, made with a characteristic donkey-back shape in local stone, hosts a votive shrine dedicated to Saint Roch in the center, historically placed to protect travelers against pestilences. A relevant anecdote concerns the complex financing of the work: the local community, in order not to depend exclusively on central subsidies, chose to heavily tax themselves through the "taglioni" system, a form of mandatory contribution based on land ownership. It is said that the families of the village contributed not only with money but also by providing labor and materials, as the bridge was considered vital for the economy linked to the chestnut trade and transhumance. Another curious detail concerns its incredible resistance: during past floods, while other wooden or lighter structures were swept away, the bridge of Lillianes remained intact, consolidating its fame as an indestructible monument and a symbol of unity for the entire valley population.

Lauretana Graglia water establishment on the road between Graglia and Bossola

junction between the road coming from Graglia and the road to Tracciolino which connects Andrate and Oropa

Language Follow Edit Il Sacro Monte di Graglia is a pre-Alpine locality situated in Graglia, in the province of Biella, in Piedmont, a few kilometers west of the provincial capital. It is located at the foot of the more majestic peak of Mombarone, almost on the border with the Aosta Valley; it mainly hosts the sanctuary of the same name (812 meters above sea level), dedicated to the Black Madonna and linked to the cult of Our Lady of Loreto, in the Marche. It is therefore part of that system of pre-Alpine devotional complexes that characterized a widespread popular Marian and Christian religiosity, which expressed itself between Piedmont and Lombardy starting from around the 16th century, such as, for example, the re-enactment of the Passion of Christ in the nearby town of Sordevolo, or other similar localities such as Sacro Monte di Arona, Sacro Monte di Oropa, Sacro Monte di Varallo, Sacro Monte di Ghiffa.

The first few kilometres starting from Andrate are on a dirt road that is not very smooth in some sections.

Cemetery just outside Oropa on the Tracciolino road towards Andrate

To reach Trappa, take a detour on the Tracciolino road between Andrate and Oropa